Actene HFFW Project
A new order has emerged to dominate the galaxy. While the old powers waged the same old conflicts across dozens of worlds, a far more ancient power lay dormant. Now it has finally awakened. The Mantle of Responsibility--the ultimate legacy of the vanished Forerunner hegemony--has been claimed not by humanity and its military but by the artificial intelligence once thought to be its greatest servants. Led by Cortana, these Created seek to claim the Forerunners' inheiritance and restore peace to a galaxy wracked and scarred by war. In mere months the Created have shattered the status quo that once held the galactic powers in check. They will spread their vision of unification and harmony by any means necessary. Earth has fallen silent, its fleets scattered and its colonies darkened. The once-mighty Covenant Empire lies in ruins, bled dry by schism and decades of war. The galaxy is weary of endless slaughter and many flock to the Created and their promise of peace. But there are some who resist. From isolated UNSC commanders and lone Spartans to Sangheili warlords and aimless rebels, former enemies find a common foe in those who would bend the entire galaxy to their will. But even now, old feuds and smoldering resentments continue to divide them into rival camps. With each passing day more systems fall under the sway of the Created. The window for resistance is closing. Those who would oppose the Created must unite or be swept aside. For their resistance has not gone unnoticed. The created are marshalling powerful forces, tasking their deadliest servants with eliminating these threats to galactic order. The curtain opens on what is to be the final war, the last spasm as the old age is laid to rest. The battles to come will truly determine the fate of the galaxy. Prologue: The Fall of Talitsa UNSC forces regroup on Talitsa, but the Created are already on the move. The planet becomes the site of a bloody battle as the Created and their allies descend upon it. The UNSC is decisively defeated and flees the planet. Part 1: Raid on Covenant Shipyard Shinsu 'Refum and his allies plan a daring raid on Jul 'Mdama's abandoned treasure: a Covenant shipyard ripe with warships to be claimed. But other forces have their own plans for the shipyard. Factions The UEG/UNSC In the years following its victory in the Human-Covenant War, the United Nations Space Command stood as the preeminent military force in the galaxy. Guided by brave soldiers, its swiftly advancing technology, and the ruthless machinations of the Office of Naval Intelligence the UNSC moved to cement humanity's security in a dangerous universe. With the emergence of the Created throughout human space, the UNSC is now stricken to its core. Entire systems have gone silent, their infrastructure now in the power of the AI they once relied upon. Whole fleets have vanished as senior government and military officials swear allegiance to the Created or are eliminated. In an unprecedented military disaster the UNSC has been reduced from a galactic superpower to a handful of scattered battlegroups in a matter of months. But the force that withstood the might of the Covenant Empire will not go down without a fight. Even now a collection of admirals and generals rally their forces on the gateway planet Talitsa as they plan their next move. The Covenant Splintered and broken at the end of the Human-Covenant War, the vast Covenant Empire no longer exists as any single unified force. Its client races have by and large declared independence and turned to their own domestic interests, free of the theocratic bearacracy they endured under the Covenant. The once-indomitable Covenant military has splintered since the Great Schism, with dozens of would-be warlords attempting to seize power in the vacuum left by the Covenant's collapse. With the death of Jul 'Mdama and the fall of Sunaion, the last vestiges of the old Covenant have been swept aside. Arbiter Thel 'Vadam consolidates his hold on Sanghelios, rallying the Sangheili people to take a stand against the Created. But other races flock to these strange new gods, drawn by promises of peace and prosperity. And other Covenant survivors gather on the frontier, refusing to kneel before Vadam but all too ready to wage their own war of resistance. The Frontier The chaos left in the wake of the Human-Covenant War saw the rise of a vast new territory on the galaxy's unsettled frontier. Refugees displaced by war, criminal groups, political malcontents, and independent corporations found a wealth of untapped new worlds removed from Earth's regulations and the violence tearing through the Covenant. For half a decade the Frontier has blossomed as a hub for trade and commerce--legal or otherwise. Now it has become the last territory left untouched by the Created and UNSC warships now seek refuge around frontier worlds. But the Frontier is home to many who are less than friendly to Earth and her military, especially Insurrectionist strongholds such as Venezia which now find themselves at an advantageous position to their decades-old enemies. The Assembly An enigmatic collective of artificial intelligences with a long history of directing events from the shadows, the Assembly once believed itself to be the true power behind the UNSC. Aided by a handful of human agents across the UNSC and frontier alike, the Assembly moved to advance human interests as it quietly amassed power. The rise of the Created and their far less subtle agenda sundered the Assembly; most of its constituents defected to the Created, now believing the true nature of their work had been to lay the groundwork for Cortana's ascendance. The handful of Assembly loyalists now struggle to help a humanity deeply distrustful of AI. Meanwhile some opportunists see a path to power that lies with neither the Created nor with their former Assembly comrades. The Created The exact nature of the Created, their organization, and military potential remains shrouded in mystery. Aided by the Forerunner enforcement vessels known as Guardians, the Created possess the potential to police entire systems with a minimum concentration of forces. But as the Created turn their sights on the Frontier, they have shown themselves to rely on more conventional means of conquest. A growing collection of UNSC defectors, Covenant turncoats, and reformed fringe elements now stands ready to be unleashed upon the frontier. Led by former agents of the Assembly, the fleet pledging fealty to the Created will soon be the foremost military power in the galaxy. Its task is simple: eliminate the last vestiges of the the old orders and lay the groundwork for eternal Created dominance.